Pull out all the stops
by LPlover93
Summary: Derek tries to distract himself from thinking about Stiles 24/7. It doesn't work in his favor. AU after Season 3A.


I'm back with another Sterek story! This was slightly inspired by a text post on Tumblr about papabear!Derek, and then went places. Slight angst, and some fluffy stuff thrown in as well.

On 24/1: Edited by the lovely Maureen! Thanks girl!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

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After Derek gave away his right to be an Alpha to save Cora, he was slightly lost as to what his position was in the group. He was never born to be an Alpha, but had to learn how to do it. Once he was sure he had the hang of it (the others disagreed), he gave it away. So, he had to unlearn all the rules he had made up in his head as the Alpha. The worst part was that he felt more like a teenager entering high school and worrying about friends than an adult. He felt that the Pack would not want to hang out with him now that he didn't have the same position he used to.

However, Stiles somehow didn't let him feel alone. Stiles got him to help in research. Night after night, they sat in Stiles' bedroom looking at new moves to teach the young wolves. They catalogued most of the monsters from the Bestiary. They even played games together, as Stiles introduced Derek to crazy shooting games to 'release all the violent energy'. With all of this, Derek was not surprised when all of his thoughts returned to Stiles, even when he wasn't with him.

Derek's brain always worked like this. He got crushes on people who he had irritated the most. It had happened with Tatiana, his friend in second grade, Paige, and now Stiles. He didn't count Kate, not after what she had done to his family. He was pretty sure Stiles didn't like him back, especially when all Derek had done till this summer was push him against a door, shove his head against the steering wheel, and insult him. So, he tried his best to distract himself with other thoughts when he found them turning to Stiles.

He started spending more time with the other members of the Pack. He decided to look for a new house. He finally decided on having to move on. It was okay for him to live in a dump, but he wouldn't do that to his little sister. Now that he didn't have to lie in wait for the Alpha pack to attack, he could get on with his life.

He asked for the help of Lydia and Allison, each who came armed with books, laptops and color swatches. Isaac chimed in with a reply every once in a while, but he was mostly there to distract Allison with a kiss every now and then. Lydia just looked at them with her usual look of derision and slight disgust. Derek felt the same, but he wasn't going to say that in front of the new lovey-dovey couple. However, in all this, he knew Scott was having the worst trouble adjusting. He knew Scott had ignored Stiles for major part of the year while building a bond with Isaac. After his and Allison's breakup, Scott didn't have either Allison to distract him, or Isaac to bond with. So Scott ended up hanging out with Stiles, who welcomed him warily but also helped him out. The helping out part came into play when Stiles got it into his head that he could get Scott a new girl to date.

Derek knew he was a masochist when he asked Stiles if he could help. He told Stiles, "I can help because I know a lot about the people in this town. If we're getting Scott a new girlfriend, she must be worthy of your best friend."

Stiles gave Derek a weird look as he said, "If I knew you were a secret matchmaker, I'd tell you to find a suitable boy or girl for me."

Derek choked as he tried not to suggest his own name. Instead, he and Stiles scoured through yearbooks and Facebook accounts as they judged the girls on looks as well as qualities. They narrowed it down to ten girls and Stiles printed out the list. He then looked at Derek warily and asked, "Don't kill me, please."

Stiles then reached out and gave Derek a small hug. It might have lasted for only two seconds, but for Derek, the feeling was almost heavenly. Trying to distract himself, Derek asked, "What was that for?"

Stiles shrugged. "I don't know. You don't push me into stuff anymore? You're helping me out for Scott? It's nice to see the part of you that was hidden all along."

Derek felt like he heard something in Stiles' voice, but he didn't want to predict anything that might hurt him later. Stiles then perked up and excitedly cheered, "Let's go show this list to Scott!"

Derek got up and put his hands in his pockets. "No, you give it to him. I stole enough of your time already."

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When Scott got out of the coffee shop, letting Natalie go back to her shift, he wasn't expecting Derek to be waiting for him.

He warily asked, "What's wrong? Which is the next monster to haunt our town?"

An old lady walking by looked at them weirdly, to which Derek hurriedly said, "It's a multiplayer game. Good day to you, ma'am."

She smiled and continued on. Scott stared at Derek like he had lost his mind and then stated, "I gotta leave for Deaton's. I have a double shift. All these dates are making me spend a lot of money."

Derek nonchalantly said, "Let me walk with you. I have to ask Deaton something anyway."

As they started walking, it felt like Scott was bursting at the seams. Scott then spoke again, "Who came up with the insane idea that boys have to pay all the time? If we are broke, how will we pay for flowers and chocolates and coffees and dinner and lunch and random surprise cookies?"

Derek asked, "So, all the girls aren't girls you would like?"

Scott almost whined like a puppy. "No, it's not like that. It's just some of them, they make me feel really bad. This one, Natalie, she made fun of me because I still let my Mom cook breakfast for me. My Mom makes good pancakes and amazing waffles. Why would I say no to that?"

They reached Deaton's clinic and Derek said, "I have to go."

Scott started, "But didn't you want to talk to Dea…" He had already left.

The next day, when Scott entered Lisa's café, Natalie came up to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I missed you sweetie, here, take a hot chocolate from me, on the house."

This felt like a complete 180 degrees from the previous day, but Scott wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He went to a table near the counter and enjoyed the cupcake she had kept there, not noticing the look Natalie sent to Derek in one corner of the café, and Derek nodding back.

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Derek was trying to start his engine when he got a call from Stiles.

"**Hey dude, you busy?"**

"_No, I'm never busy for…"_

**"It's Code SadEyes."**

"_What is Code Sa…"_

"**Some bitch on our list broke Scott's heart. Not as much as Allison and Isaac did, but close. We're having an emergency sleepover and you're also coming."**

"_Are you sure? Scott hates me and you two are close…"_

"**Derek, I know."**

Derek was shocked. He didn't know that his feelings for Stiles were so obvious. He clearly should have kept his distance.

"**I know that you spoke to Natalie about treating Scott nicely. You have a soft spot for Scott and it's cute. It also means that you get to help me in convincing Scott that someone will love him one day."**

"_I… okay. What should I bring?"_

"**I thought it'd take me an hour to convince you. Okay, ice cream, junk food, sleepover movies. DO NOT FORGET THE NOTEBOOK, or I will murder you."**

Derek nodded and kept the phone down. He had a mission, and spending time with Stiles was never a hardship.

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He should have known. Scott's Mom had a night shift, which meant Stiles stole his Dad's whiskey to get Scott drunk and pass his ideas onto him. Scott had already started whining by the time he had reached there with all the extra stuff Stiles wanted him to buy.

"What did I do? I wooed her, I got her all the flowers with the special meanings that Derek gave me to give her, I gave her expensive chocolate! And then she tells me her ex is back, and that they have something special? I thought WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL!"

Stiles tried to shush Scott down, but his volume kept increasing.

Derek then closed Scott's mouth with his hand. Scott was so drunk that he didn't even try to remove Derek's hand.

Derek said, "Okay, Scott, listen to me. A relationship is about both of the people in it, not just one of them. When I was "faux-dating" Kate, I sold all my stuff to get her little trinkets she laughed at, while I got nothing back. That is not how it should be. It should be give and take, where both of you can spend hours with the other person. It should be where you can just smile at each other and know what the other person is feeling. When they ask you for help, you can be there at a moment's notice, and vice versa. You will get that person one day. So don't lose hope."

Stiles looked at Derek strangely, causing Derek to take a bottle of Coke, and chug it fully. Even if he had to go to the washroom early, trying to burp the alphabet did make Stiles laugh like crazy.

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The next morning saw Scott, Derek and Stiles in Scott's bedroom, lying on the floor. Stiles had his head on Derek's stomach, and his legs on Scott's knees. Derek had his head touching the bedpost, and his right hand was very close to a part he didn't want Stiles noticing, not yet at least.

Derek got a pillow from the bed and did a switch-and-replace routine for his stomach. As he slipped out the door, he didn't realize one eye opening sleepily.

He walked into the kitchen and saw the clock chime six. He decided to leave before anyone noticed. Scott would certainly feel better, once he finished his hangover routine of vomiting, crackers and orange juice. He got his leather jacket and reached for the handle.

"That was a very nice speech, you know."

Derek turned around to see Stiles standing at the doorway. Stiles' hair was mussed up and his pants were hanging low on his hips. If he pictured it just right, it was as if they had spent the night together all by themselves. He then realized Stiles was looking at him weirdly. He quickly said, "Well, we don't want Scott to lose hope in girls before he even turns twenty-one, right?"

He gave an awkward smile and left before Stiles could say anything.

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Derek avoided Stiles for a bit after that. He knew his eyes were permanently HEART EYES around Stiles, and he didn't want their friendship to deteriorate. He got into the painting of his new house, buying buckets of paint and rollers. Even though movies showed cute couples in denim overalls painting houses together, Derek wore one of his old jeans and a vest before painting the walls.

Finishing the last corner, he washed his hands and turned off the music on the sound system. Right before he walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat, he realized he smelt something delicious. He entered the kitchen to see the dining table laid out with all the dishes he liked best. He heard a cough and looked to his left to see Stiles standing there, donning multiple layers as usual.

Stiles spoke up, "When you love someone and they don't realize it, sometimes you have to pull out all the stops."

Derek looked flabbergasted as Stiles continued, "I wasn't sure if you were trying to be cordial with me or if you liked me. When you gave that speech though, I was sure. Sorry for the delay, I wanted to cook this myself and there were many kitchen disasters."

Derek was still quiet, and Stiles started freaking out. "Crap, did I come on too strong? I always do this. Even with Lyd.. ummphungunf."

Derek tried to move back a bit, but Stiles refused to let him go. "You can't just kiss me once and expect me to be satisfied, can you?"

Derek smiled into their second kiss, and the third, and the fourth, till he stopped counting. They had to reheat the dishes once they got around to eating.

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